So, after a sodden end to our trip, we enjoyed a very sunny day in Bergen yesterday and today have been preparing for our flight home tomorrow. We've even treated ourselves to sushi, a hotel with a real bed and our first glass of wine in a couple of weeks! So Bex, how has the detox gone? I would recommend Norway, a most beautiful place to visit! Probably best enjoyed after a lottery win! We've had a great time and been lucky with the weather. Here are some final pics...
For our final day on White Stuff and White Lightning, we thought we'd get a few more miles in and retrace our steps from Leirvik up to a campsite outside Bergen. Having got everything dry yesterday, it was time to get wet again with downpours all day, so the scenery looked a bit less interesting than first time around! Tomorrow, we're sightseeing, so fingers crosses it stops raining for a bit! Here's Bex: Boo to rain!! x10. Tomorrow it's chillaxing time! 50 (688), 236m
This morning everything was a bit wet, so we decided to close the loop and head across to Haugesund, where we knew there was a good campsite and we could wash our, by now, very smelly clothes! As we got further from the mountains and closer to the coast, the weather cleared and we arrived in warm sunshine. Hurrah! Bex's verdict (she's hungry!): Was short, it was sunny, we set up camp early, so it all dried out! To celebrate we had a beer! 36 (638), 77m
A wet and miserable day. We did a bit of island-hopping, with a trip to Ombo, but even that turned into a race against time to get to the connecting ferry at the other end.
To cap it all, the campsite we wanted to stay at was closed, so we're wild camping by the fjord. Great 3G signal though! 40 (602), 323m After ten dry days, the sunshine had to come to an end and this morning we woke to a downpour, which made packing up fun. We were looking forward to taking the tourist ferry down the Lysefjord and seeing the sights, but all you could see was mist!
By the time we'd had a late lunch, we didn't leave Forsand (at the other end of the fjord) until mid-afternoon, so not many miles on the clock today. Would have been even less, except we had to double back to get to a campsite that would have us. Raining again though! 26 (562), 131m A long, chilly day climbing into a strong headwind. We spent most of it on two plateaus at around 900m, followed by an exhilarating descent down 34 switchbacks and a kilometre-long tunnel to Lysebotn, at the head of the 40-mile Lysefjord, the most southerly of the major fjords.
The mountains were very barren and desolate, but being a Sunday, also full of motorbikes and camper vans! It was so cold, we cracked out the stove to make a cup of tea with our lunch! 50 (536), 1,050m Finally tracked down a troll. This one looks like it's turned to stone. Unless it's waiting to pounce on the children. A second day heading up the Sestedal valley, with the mountains closing in around us, but not much height gained. Tomorrow, we will take a left over the mountains towards Stavanger again and start looping back to Bergen.
Lots of trees today - it's literally all there is to see apart from the miles of river and lakes! Apparently, there is also elk and beaver out there, but none crossed our path today. We've realised it's possible we ate elk burgers last night - didn't quite taste like beef! 53 (486), 288m Bern's bum burn is back! With no massively long days so far, all has been quiet at the rear end. However, miles of bumpy forest road over the last few days has really cranked up the heat. Definitely up to bum factor 9 today!
Bex is up today: From worst to best campsite in one day! We had a quick stop at a bike shop in Kristiansand for a pair of wire cutters to fix Bern's spoke, handily positioned next to a coffee shop! It was here we decided to leave the North Sea Cycle Route 1 and take a chance on route 3. Up into the centre of Norway. 58 (433), 209m
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